DOCSLIB.ORG

ASAA-2019-Abstracts

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
ASAA-2019-Abstracts African Studies Association in Africa (ASAA) 2019 Conference Individual Abstracts Ordering the Other: A Feminist Interrogation of Carole Boyce Davies’ Maidens, Mistresses and Matrons: Feminine Images in Selected Soyinka’s Work Olalere Kunle Oluwafemi Patriarchy exemplifies the institutionalization of denigration and ordering of the African woman. The misrepresentation of African women resonates beyond ‘role playing’ into the creation of a structural and linguistic culture that further downplays the rights of the African woman through relegation and stereotyping as objects of sexuality and naivety. The recognition of the need to affirm the essence of gender equity by frontally challenging role- ascription and heteronormativity in Africa demands a canonization of its ideals. This paper, therefore, rethinks the basis for the emergence and perpetuation of a structural and linguistic culture that feeds the society’s misrepresentation. It employs Carole Boyce Davies “Maidens, Mistresses and Matrons: Feminine Images in Selected Soyinka’s Work” in relocating the discourse on women right within the African society. It discovers a portrayal of women as either “foolish virgins” or “female fatale” as embedded in Soyinka’s work. Also, it affirms that ascribing demeaning roles to women is a point in reference in resolving issues of gender equity. It concludes that recognition of the writers’ ability to create new realities, encapsulates the quest for a renewed vigor in the positive portrayal of the women. Keywords: Patriarchy, Feminist consciousness, equity, African woman, women right “Feeding Lo-debar”: Peasant agriculture, urban development and survival in Zimbabwe Kauma Bryan Umaru Small grains have always mattered to small farmers. But now they are receiving renewed attention from various sectors of society including agricultural experts, the business fraternity and academics from Development Studies, Economics and Sociology. Yet hitherto, this social and environmental history of small grains – sorghum, millet and rapoko remained unwritten. This paper explores the growing significance of small grains over the longue durée from colonial rule into the post-colonial period in southern Africa, with particular focus on Zimbabwe. It discusses the evolving social, environmental and economic dimensions of peasant agriculture offering a fresh look at how African agriculture has instrumentally contributed towards the growth and upkeep of urban populations. Through a multidisciplinary analysis of colonial archival data and interviews with smallholder farmers and families the paper explores how small grains agriculture has been differently knitted into mainstream development discourse with widespread calls for its cultivation as a panacea to the vagaries of climate change and environmental degradation amid growing concerns over food security. Recurring droughts and insistent poverty on the continent has seen an upsurge in the consumption of small grains by the working urban population, who to consume them to counter the ever-increasing livelihood costs and supplement their food supply and dietary needs. Consequently, this paper narrates how small grains has been adopted in varying ways as a survival mechanism during periods of drought, social conflict and economic depression. 1 African Studies Association in Africa (ASAA) 2019 Conference Individual Abstracts It contributes to a reviewed understanding of traditional African agrarian practice, land rights and social narrative towards urban agriculture and its impact on local communities. Trajectories of Resistance against Slavery in the past and the present Alemayehu Getnet This paper aims at analyzing and showing the presence of resistance against slavery and the representation of slavery in Ngug's recent contemporary novel, entitled as Matigari. The paper advocates the trajectories of struggle for freedom or decolonization in the past and the present situation of Africa. African writers were artists and propagandist in bringing freedom for African society. Thus, this article discusses how resistance against slavery is represented in Africa. It also shows the new perspectives or paradigm shifts of post-colonial markers in the development of African literature. The study explores the representation of resistance against disillusionment, absurdity, and the presence of struggle for practicing freedom, etc. A kind of continuous and conscious struggle against slavery and colonization in the past, and neo-colonialism and globalization at present; forces which have plagued the African continent for so many years. Therefore, the novels are meant to serve as a kind of liberation tool for African intellectuals in the continent. Matigari is a novel of liberation that provides survey of the history of Africa from the past to the future. This term paper shows what Ngugi’s strong reflections are and their usage for resistance in a certain society in Africa. The research has qualitative nature. Black writing model is used in this study. Key words: Resistance, slavery, Post-colonialism, Neo-colonialism, Decolonization" Afrocentric Perspective and Indigenous Knowledge System: Rethinking Animism as a Basis of the Yoruba Belief System Olalere Kunle Oluwafemi "Western scholarship including the works of Darryl Wilkinson, project discussions permeated with constructs and arguments that suggests that the renewed interest in Animism is hinged largely on functionality and serviceability of eco-critical positions. While sparse attention is accorded the existence of an African orientation that constantly resonates the nexus between Animism and Human -Animal relations within a framework of beliefs that are poignantly mythicized and in literature as foundations for religious rites, epistemology and indeed, culture. This paper rethinks Animism as a basis of an epistemic belief system. Through an ontological appraisal of Caroline Rooney's African Literature, Animism and Politics, it concludes that there is an evident misrepresentation of Animism and as primarily, a tool in eco-critical ruminations. The paper submits that it percolates an established African worldview. It also affirms that its fecundity in the emergence and shaping of this worldview is fundamental. The paper concludes that Animism reaches far and beyond issues of environmental conservation. Keywords: Animism, Human Animal relation, African worldview, relational epistemology, belief system" 2 African Studies Association in Africa (ASAA) 2019 Conference Individual Abstracts The Fallacy of Peacebuilding via Democratisation RWENGABO Sabatiano Nigeria’s failure to avoid or resolve the Boko Haram insurgency, and Uganda’s post-2012 violence in the Rwenzori Region, all reveal that democratisation processes in these countries have not enabled peacebuilding. Yet democratic peace theory (DPT) argues that democratisation promotes peace between and within nations by providing conditions that are conducive to peaceful conflict resolution. Accordingly, as a society democratises it institutionalises mechanisms, channels, through which competing ideals and interests are negotiated, processed, and amicable solutions reached. Henceforth, countries which embraced “Third Wave Democratisation” should be more peaceful and/or consolidating peaceful conflict resolution. Evidence from Africa reveals otherwise: violence is not uncommon in countries like Nigeria and South Africa where democratisation processes, in form of periodic elections, peaceful changes of government, a growing civil society and free media, have not provided channels for peaceful conflict resolution. This paper combines ideas from DPT, peace studies, and available evidence from Nigeria (generally presented in literature as instantiating global terrorism gone regional and national), and Uganda (one of whose conflicts reveals domestic violence) to compare two instances of peacelessness despite more than a decade of democratisation. While the two cases seem to differ on the natures of their current conflicts, they are common on one aspect: recourse to violence instead of peaceful resolution of conflicts involving citizens of these countries. This commonality underlines the failures of democratisation as a means to peacebuilding. These findings have important ramifications for thinking about the limits of democracy as a necessary and sufficient condition for peacebuilding in Africa. In the name of “quality”: Greed, power and the Kenyan Academy Njoya Wandia "In 2009, Kenya’s defunct Commission of Higher Education began implementing the European Union’s Bologna Process in Kenyan university education. The implementation was driven through the East African Community, and was touted as a move at improving quality of higher education and at fostering regional integration. Most Kenyan academics have accepted the ideology of the Bologna Process, and many publications express faith in its ability to improve higher education. In 2009, an issue of the Journal of Higher Education in Africa dedicated to the Bologna Process did question whether its implementation in African universities was not another form of neo-colonialism. However, none of the articles delved into the ideological, institutional and human impact of the policy on higher education in Africa. This paper will use the writer’s personal experience of implementing the regulations within a Kenyan academic department, and will reflect on the broader implications of higher education regulation in Kenya and Africa. It will present the Bologna Process as a metaphor of the
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Conserving Wildlife in African Landscapes Kenya’S Ewaso Ecosystem
    Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press smithsonian contributions to zoology • number 632 Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press AConserving Chronology Wildlife of Middlein African Missouri Landscapes Plains Kenya’sVillage Ewaso SitesEcosystem Edited by NicholasBy Craig J. M. Georgiadis Johnson with contributions by Stanley A. Ahler, Herbert Haas, and Georges Bonani SERIES PUBLICATIONS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Emphasis upon publication as a means of “diffusing knowledge” was expressed by the first Secretary of the Smithsonian. In his formal plan for the Institution, Joseph Henry outlined a program that included the following statement: “It is proposed to publish a series of reports, giving an account of the new discoveries in science, and of the changes made from year to year in all branches of knowledge.” This theme of basic research has been adhered to through the years by thousands of titles issued in series publications under the Smithsonian imprint, com- mencing with Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge in 1848 and continuing with the following active series: Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology Smithsonian Contributions to Botany Smithsonian Contributions to History and Technology Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences Smithsonian Contributions to Museum Conservation Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology In these series, the Institution publishes small papers and full-scale monographs that report on the research and collections of its various museums and bureaus. The Smithsonian Contributions Series are distributed via mailing lists to libraries, universities, and similar institu- tions throughout the world. Manuscripts submitted for series publication are received by the Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press from authors with direct affilia- tion with the various Smithsonian museums or bureaus and are subject to peer review and review for compliance with manuscript preparation guidelines.
    [Show full text]
  • A Conversation with Dance History: Movement And
    A CONVERSATION WITH DANCE HISTORY: MOVEMENT AND MEANING IN THE CULTURAL BODY A Dissertation Submitted to The Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Seónagh Odhiambo January, 2009 © by Seónagh Odhiambo 2009 All Rights Reserved ii ABSTRACT A Conversation with Dance History: Movement and Meaning in the Cultural Body Seónagh Odhiambo Doctor of Philosophy Temple University, 2009 Doctoral Advisory Committee Chair: Dr. Kariamu Welsh This study regards the problem of a binary in dance discursive practices, seen in how “world dance” is separated from European concert dance. A close look at 1930s Kenya Luo women’s dance in the context of “dance history” raises questions about which dances matter, who counts as a dancer, and how dance is defined. When discursive practices are considered in light of multicultural demographic trends and globalisation the problem points toward a crisis of reason in western discourse about how historical origins and “the body” have been theorised: within a western philosophical tradition the body and experience are negated as a basis for theorising. Therefore, historical models and theories about race and gender often relate binary thinking whereby the body is theorised as text and history is understood as a linear narrative. An alternative theoretical model is established wherein dancers’ processes of embodying historical meaning provide one of five bases through which to theorise. The central research questions this study poses and attempts to answer are: how can I illuminate a view of dance that is transhistorical and transnational? How can I write about 1930s Luo women in a way that does not create a case study to exist outside of dance history? Research methods challenge historical materialist frameworks for discussions of the body and suggest insight can be gained into how historical narratives operate with coercive power—both in past and present—by examining how meaning is conceptualised and experienced.
    [Show full text]
  • Journal of Popular Education in Africa (JOPEA)
    Journal of Popular Education in Africa, Vol. 1, No 3, December 2017 ISSN 2523-2800 Journal of Popular Education in Africa (JOPEA) ISSN 2523-2800 (online) Volume 1, Number 3, December 2017 1 Journal of Popular Education in Africa, Vol. 1, No 3, December 2017 ISSN 2523-2800 Editorial Journal of Popular Education in Africa (JOPEA) (ISSN 2523-2800) is a professional publication of the African Society for Research on the Education of Adults (ASREA), Nairobi, Kenya, published monthly. It is an interdisciplinary journal whose major focus is on issues which are central to the development of Africa and the entire world. Its principal objective is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas among scholars from a wide range of intellectual persuasions and diverse disciplines, working on Africa and the world as a whole. The journal also encourages other contributors working on other parts of the globe or those undertaking comparative analysis of Africa and other parts of the world to contribute. Journal of Popular Education in Africa (JOPEA) welcomes contributions which cut across disciplinary boundaries. We accept and publish articles from all disciplines after rigorous peer review process. Articles with a narrow focus and incomprehensible to people outside their discipline are unlikely to be accepted. The journal welcomes articles and other academic communications from scholars in Africa and elsewhere regarding issues touching on Africa directly and indirectly. The Journal exists in the first instance to promote the extension of research and knowledge on Africa. Contributions must be in English only. Editorial correspondence and manuscripts should be sent to: Journal of Popular Education in Africa (JOPEA) African Society for Research on the Education of Adults (ASREA) Society for Research on the Education of Adults (ASREA) ch on the Education of Adults (ASREA) SREA) P.O.
    [Show full text]
  • Somalia's Judeao-Christian Heritage 3
    Aram Somalia's Judeao-Christian Heritage 3 SOMALIA'S JUDEAO-CHRISTIAN HERITAGE: A PRELIMINARY SURVEY Ben I. Aram* INTRODUCTION The history of Christianity in Somalia is considered to be very brief and as such receives only cursory mention in many of the books surveying this subject for Africa. Furthermore, the story is often assumed to have begun just over a century ago, with the advent of modem Western mission activity. However, evidence from three directions sheds light on the pre­ Islamic Judeao-Christian influence: written records, archaeological data and vestiges of Judeao-Christian symbolism still extant within both traditional 1 Somali culture and closely related ethnic groups • Together such data indicates that both Judaism and Christianity preceded Islam to the lowland Horn of Africa In the introduction to his article on Nubian Christianity, Bowers (1985:3-4) bemoans the frequently held misconception that Christianity only came recently to Africa, exported from the West. He notes that this mistake is even made by some Christian scholars. He concludes: "The subtle impact of such an assumption within African Christianity must not be underestimated. Indeed it is vital to African Christian self-understanding to recognize that the Christian presence in Africa is almost as old as Christianity itself, that Christianity has been an integral feature of the continent's life for nearly two thousand years." *Ben I. Aram is the author's pen name. The author has been in ministry among Somalis since 1982, in somalia itself, and in Kenya and Ethiopia. 1 These are part of both the Lowland and Highland Eastern Cushitic language clusters such as Oromo, Afar, Hadiya, Sidamo, Kambata, Konso and Rendille.
    [Show full text]
  • Kenyan Stone Age: the Louis Leakey Collection
    World Archaeology at the Pitt Rivers Museum: A Characterization edited by Dan Hicks and Alice Stevenson, Archaeopress 2013, pages 35-21 3 Kenyan Stone Age: the Louis Leakey Collection Ceri Shipton Access 3.1 Introduction Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey is considered to be the founding father of palaeoanthropology, and his donation of some 6,747 artefacts from several Kenyan sites to the Pitt Rivers Museum (PRM) make his one of the largest collections in the Museum. Leakey was passionate aboutopen human evolution and Africa, and was able to prove that the deep roots of human ancestry lay in his native east Africa. At Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania he excavated an extraordinary sequence of Pleistocene human evolution, discovering several hominin species and naming the earliest known human culture: the Oldowan. At Olorgesailie, Kenya, he excavated an Acheulean site that is still influential in our understanding of Lower Pleistocene human behaviour. On Rusinga Island in Lake Victoria, Kenya he found the Miocene ape ancestor Proconsul. He obtained funding to establish three of the most influential primatologists in their field, dubbed Leakey’s ‘ape women’; Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Birute Galdikas, who pioneered the study of chimpanzee, gorilla and orangutan behaviour respectively. His second wife Mary Leakey, whom he first hired as an artefact illustrator, went on to be a great researcher in her own right, surpassing Louis’ work with her own excavations at Olduvai Gorge. Mary and Louis’ son Richard followed his parents’ career path initially, discovering many of the most important hominin fossils including KNM WT 15000 (the Nariokotome boy, a near complete Homo ergaster skeleton), KNM WT 17000 (the type specimen for Paranthropus aethiopicus), and KNM ER 1470 (the type specimen for Homo rudolfensis with an extremely well preserved Archaeopressendocranium).
    [Show full text]
  • A Bayesian Test of the Lineage-Specificity of Word-Order
    A Bayesian test of the lineage-specificity of word-order correlations Gerhard Jäger, Gwendolyn Berger, Isabella Boga, Thora Daneyko & Luana Vaduva Tübingen University DIP Colloquium Amsterdam January 25, 2018 Jäger et al. (Tübingen) Word-order Universals ALT2017 1 / 30 Introduction Introduction Jäger et al. (Tübingen) Word-order Universals ALT2017 2 / 30 Introduction Word order correlations Greenberg, Keenan, Lehmann etc.: general tendency for languages to be either consistently head-initial or consistently head-final alternative account (Dryer, Hawkins): phrases are consistently left- or consistently right-branching can be formalized as collection of implicative universals, such as With overwhelmingly greater than chance frequency, languages with normal SOV order are postpositional. (Greenberg’s Universal 4) both generativist and functional/historical explanations in the literature Jäger et al. (Tübingen) Word-order Universals ALT2017 3 / 30 Introduction Phylogenetic non-independence languages are phylogenetically structured if two closely related languages display the same pattern, these are not two independent data points ) we need to control for phylogenetic dependencies (from Dunn et al., 2011) Jäger et al. (Tübingen) Word-order Universals ALT2017 4 / 30 Introduction Phylogenetic non-independence Maslova (2000): “If the A-distribution for a given typology cannot be assumed to be stationary, a distributional universal cannot be discovered on the basis of purely synchronic statistical data.” “In this case, the only way to discover a distributional universal is to estimate transition probabilities and as it were to ‘predict’ the stationary distribution on the basis of the equations in (1).” Jäger et al. (Tübingen) Word-order Universals ALT2017 5 / 30 The phylogenetic comparative method The phylogenetic comparative method Jäger et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Changing Kenya's Literary Landscape
    CHANGING KENYA’S LITERARY LANDSCAPE CHANGING KENYA’S LITERARY LANDSCAPE Part 2: Past, Present & Future A research paper by Alex Nderitu (www.AlexanderNderitu.com) 09/07/2014 Nairobi, Kenya 1 CHANGING KENYA’S LITERARY LANDSCAPE Contents: 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 4 2. Writers in Politics ........................................................................................................ 6 3. A Brief Look at Swahili Literature ....................................................................... 70 - A Taste of Culture - Origins of Kiswahili Lit - Modern Times - The Case for Kiswahili as Africa’s Lingua Franca - Africa the Beautiful 4. JEREMIAH’S WATERS: Why Are So Many Writers Drunkards? ................ 89 5. On Writing ................................................................................................................... 97 - The Greats - The Plot Thickens - Crime & Punishment - Kenyan Scribes 6. Scribbling Rivalry: Writing Families ............................................................... 122 7. Crazy Like a Fox: Humour Writing ................................................................... 128 8. HIGHER LEARNING: Do Universities Kill by Degrees? .............................. 154 - The River Between - Killing Creativity/Entreprenuership - The Importance of Education - Knife to a Gunfight - The Storytelling Gift - The Colour Purple - The Importance of Editors - The Kids are Alright - Kidneys for the King
    [Show full text]
  • Mau Mau Crucible of War: Statehood, National Identity and Politics in Postcolonial Kenya
    Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2014 Mau Mau crucible of war: Statehood, national identity and politics in postcolonial Kenya Nicholas Kariuki Githuku Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Githuku, Nicholas Kariuki, "Mau Mau crucible of war: Statehood, national identity and politics in postcolonial Kenya" (2014). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 5677. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/5677 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MAU MAU CRUCIBLE OF WAR: STATEHOOD, NATIONAL IDENTITY AND POLITICS IN POSTCOLONIAL KENYA by Nicholas Kariuki Githuku Dissertation submitted to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Approved by Dr. Robert Maxon, Committee Chairperson Dr. Joseph Hodge Dr. Robert Blobaum Dr. Jeremia Njeru Dr. Tamba M’bayo Department of History Morgantown, West Virginia 2014 Keywords: war, statehood, stateness, security, mentalité, national identity, psychosociological anxieties Copyright 2014 Nicholas Kariuki Githuku Abstract The postcolonial African state has been the subject of extensive study and scrutiny by various scholars of great repute such as Colin Legum, Crawford Young, Robert H.
    [Show full text]
  • Culture and Customs of Kenya
    Culture and Customs of Kenya NEAL SOBANIA GREENWOOD PRESS Culture and Customs of Kenya Cities and towns of Kenya. Culture and Customs of Kenya 4 NEAL SOBANIA Culture and Customs of Africa Toyin Falola, Series Editor GREENWOOD PRESS Westport, Connecticut • London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sobania, N. W. Culture and customs of Kenya / Neal Sobania. p. cm.––(Culture and customs of Africa, ISSN 1530–8367) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–313–31486–1 (alk. paper) 1. Ethnology––Kenya. 2. Kenya––Social life and customs. I. Title. II. Series. GN659.K4 .S63 2003 305.8´0096762––dc21 2002035219 British Library Cataloging in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2003 by Neal Sobania All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2002035219 ISBN: 0–313–31486–1 ISSN: 1530–8367 First published in 2003 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.greenwood.com Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10987654321 For Liz Contents Series Foreword ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xv Chronology xvii 1 Introduction 1 2 Religion and Worldview 33 3 Literature, Film, and Media 61 4 Art, Architecture, and Housing 85 5 Cuisine and Traditional Dress 113 6 Gender Roles, Marriage, and Family 135 7 Social Customs and Lifestyle 159 8 Music and Dance 187 Glossary 211 Bibliographic Essay 217 Index 227 Series Foreword AFRICA is a vast continent, the second largest, after Asia.
    [Show full text]
  • Pastoralism and Conflict Management in the Horn of Africa: a Case Study of the Borana in North Eastern Kenya
    UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI INSTITUTE OF DIPLOMACY AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES (IDIS) Pastoralism and Conflict Management in the Horn of Africa: A Case Study of the Borana in North Eastern Kenya FELIX W. WATAKILA R50/75924/2014 A Research Project Submitted in Partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Masters of Arts Degree in International Studies. 2011 5 DECLARATION This thesis is my original work and has not been submitted for any Award in any other University. ……………………………. Date……………….…………..……… Felix W. Watakila This thesis has been submitted for examination with my approval as the assigned University Supervisor. …………………………….. Date…………………………… Dr. Kizito Sabala Lecturer, Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies (IDIS) University of Nairobi i DEDICATION I wish to dedicate this work to my dear family, my wife Jackline Khayesi Ligami and to our children Elizabeth Kakai Watakila and Charles Mukabi Watakila, for their support, patience and sacrifice during my study. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I acknowledge my supervisor Dr. Kizito Sabala for his guidance and input throughout this research study. I further wish to appreciate the committed leadership and direction of the college commandant Lt Gen J N Waweru and the entire faculty staff, for providing an enabling atmosphere during the course duration that enabled me to complete this thesis on time. I also give special thanks to the University of Nairobi lecturers, for their tireless efforts to equip me with the necessary tools for my study. I further wish to thank my fellow course participants of Course 17 of 2014/2015, for their constant support and encouragement. iii ABSTRACT Generally, the study is about pastoralism and conflict management in the Horn of Africa using Borana of Kenya as a case study.
    [Show full text]
  • The Emerging National Culture of Kenya: Decolonizing Modernity
    Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective Volume 2 Number 2 Special Issue on Kenya and the Kenyan Article 8 Diaspora June 2010 The meE rging National Culture of Kenya: Decolonizing Modernity Olubayi Olubayi Rutgers University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/jgi Part of the African Studies Commons, Place and Environment Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, and the Sociology of Culture Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Olubayi, Olubayi (2010) "The meE rging National Culture of Kenya: Decolonizing Modernity," Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective: Vol. 2 : No. 2 , Article 8. Available at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/jgi/vol2/iss2/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Journal of Global Initiatives 2(2) (2007). pp. 222-237 The Emerging National Culture of Kenya: Decolonizing Modernity Olubayi Olubayi Abstract Kenya exists as a legitimate nation state that is recognized by the United Nations and by other countries. This paper is an exploration of, and a response to, the following two questions: "Is there a national culture ofKenya?" and "what is the relationship between the national culture ofKenya and the 50 ethnic cultures of Kenya?" The evidence indicates that a distinct national culture of Kenya has emerged and continues to grow stronger as it simultaneously borrows from, reorganizes, and lends to, the 50 ancient ethnic cultures of Kenya.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethiopia, Kenya and the Oromo Quest,Policing Black
    An Encounter With Blackness in Amsterdam By Oyunga Pala The Dam square, a major tourist trap in Amsterdam, is one of its busiest locations, often teeming with visitors flowing from the streets of Kalverstraat, Damstraat and Nieuwendijk in the heart of the Amsterdam canal zone. Dam Square is within walking distance of the Red-Light district and the Amsterdam Central Station. On the east side of the tram tracks is the Amsterdam national monument, a prominent obelisk erected in 1956 in memory of the World War II soldiers, that I hardly noticed when I arrived in Amsterdam in September 2019 from Nairobi, Kenya. Dutch historian, Leo Balai, author of the book Slave Ship De Leusden, noted that there are two stories of the Amsterdam canal zone. Amsterdam’s Golden Age in the 17th Century, is a story of pride and prestige but also one of astonishment shrouded in shame. The Dam square is an architectural marvel that is of great historical significance to the makeup of the city. Built as a dam in the 13th century at the mouth of the Amstel river to hold back the sea, the city grew around it and the modern metropolis of Amsterdam would emerge from these origins. This square was considered the birthplace of capitalism when the 1st Stock Exchange in the world opened in 1611. These were to be my impressions of Amsterdam’s history were it not for two significant events that happened in 2020. The first was the coronavirus pandemic and the second was the murder of George Floyd. The Dam square morphed into an intriguing site of conflated memories, depending on who you asked.
    [Show full text]